[Woodcarver] Class Report

[Alex Bisso]

Since I got so many good suggestions for teaching a 2-day one-on-one
beginners carving class from the list, I thought you might like a brief
report on the class.  First, I again want to say thanks for the input.
Because of it, I have no doubt that my student enjoyed the class very much
and really learned a lot.  After beginning with a discussion of types of
carving tools (with demos), safety, carving woods and sharpening (with lots
of demo/practice as she had factory beveled set of palm tools that needed to
be properly shaped and honed), we began to carve in earnest.  We did the
following:
1.  The 5-minute owl (ours was a bit larger than the pattern and took quite
a bit longer than 5 minutes but it was easy and fun and she really enjoyed
it - a great way to start.
2.  A simple relief carved flower pattern from www.carvinpatterns.com - for
this we actually used the instructions provided for this beginner project on
the web site which were supplemented by clarifications and demonstration.
This was quite a learning experience but also very enjoyable.
3.  A very easily carved Christmas tree ornament which was a reindeer that I
had cut out on the band saw, about 3/8" thick and which only needed
additional shaping, rounding and details such as a collar, eyes, ears and
mouth.  Some details were also burned with the wood burner.  She really like
this one and it too had some very educational elements (especially rounding
the antlers which were curved and required closely watching the grain
direction.
4.  Lots of work on a study stick - first an eye and then a basic face with
beard.  There was plenty of repetition on this and it was hard work but you
could really see the benefit of repeating the steps.  This was great
preparation for the final project.
5.  Ol' Joe's spirit face key chain.  We did this in a 1" x 1" x 4" piece of
jelutong that was very easy to carve.  The previous hard work on the study
stick really helped to make this a do-able task.
In the end she was very pleased with the instruction and amount of
information she had learned.  She joined the Montana Woodcarvers Association
to take advantage of our woodcarving library (here at my house since I am
currently the librarian) and took a couple of books, a video and a study
stick home to help her continue her carving.  We also spent quite a bit of
time looking at carving magazines, supply catalogs and web sites and she
made a list of contact information for later reference.
	I think the most difficult thing to convey (might have been more difficult
since she was left handed) was proper way to hold the work and carving knife
or tool to have control, power and safety.  Often it was necessary to make
corrections to keep her anchored to the piece and achieve the control needed
for accurate and safe work while removing enough wood to get the job done.
This required patience and persistence in making corrections to unsafe
methods.  I found it to be very important to closely watch the student so
that coaching and demonstration could be interjected when needed. It seems
to me that this would really be hard if there were many students and I was
glad that I had only one.
Alex Bisso
Billings, MT

-----Original Message-----
From: woodcarver-bounces at six.pairlist.net
[mailto:woodcarver-bounces at six.pairlist.net]On Behalf Of Alex Bisso
Sent: Monday, October 18, 2004 10:38 AM
To: [Woodcarver]
Subject: [Woodcarver] need help for class


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Recently I met a lady who said she has wanted to do wood carving for many
years and asked me to give here some starting lessons.  She will be coming
to stay here for two days early next month and I need to plan the class for
her.  I was thinking along the lines of:
1.  Explain basic carving tools and types of carving
2.  Discussion of safety
3.  Sharpenening demonstration and practice
4.  Beginning carving

Although I know she is interested in carving spirit or other faces, I am
thinking it might be best to start with something easier.  I have a simple
owl pattern that I think would be good to do first to learn about grain and
basic cutting before attempting a face in a stick, egg or bark.  I would
like your thoughts on this and perhaps suggested outlines for the discussion
first 3 items above.  I will monitor the list for input and also welcome
your responses directly to me at albisso at bresnan.net

Thanks in advance.

ALEX BISSO
Billings, MT

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